Qom
Iran's holiest Shia city, home to the Assembly of Experts and the world's largest Islamic seminary network.
Last refreshed: 29 March 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did US-Israeli strikes target Iran's holy city?
Latest on Qom
- What is Qom?
- Qom is Iran's holiest Shia city, home to the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh and the world's largest concentration of Islamic seminaries. It serves as the theological and constitutional centre of the Islamic Republic.Source: entity_background
- Why was Qom bombed in 2026?
- US-Israeli forces struck Qom's Assembly of Experts headquarters on 28 February 2026 during Operation Roaring Lion, targeting the body convening to choose Iran's new Supreme Leader after Ayatollah Khamenei's death.Source: entity_background
- What is the Assembly of Experts in Qom?
- The Assembly of Experts is an 88-member clerical body that appoints and can dismiss Iran's Supreme Leader. Its headquarters are in Qom.Source: entity_background
Background
Qom is Iran's pre-eminent Shia holy city, home to the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh and the largest concentration of Islamic seminaries in the world. The hawza network trains the clerics who staff the Assembly of Experts, the Guardian Council, and the judiciary. The Assembly's headquarters in Qom makes the city constitutionally significant: it is the body that appoints and can dismiss the Supreme Leader.
Qom was struck by US-Israeli forces on 28 February 2026 in the opening salvo of Operation Roaring Lion, alongside Tehran and Isfahan. The Assembly of Experts headquarters was hit directly while the body was convening to choose Khamenei's successor. The IDF struck the building again days later. Three Young men were publicly hanged in Qom in March 2026 on charges of waging war against God.
Qom sits at a tension point between sacred authority and political power. Seminary networks retain significant autonomy from the elected government and the IRGC, yet clerics from Qom have historically legitimised, and occasionally constrained, supreme leadership. Striking the Assembly of Experts building in 2026 was read globally as an assault on the doctrinal core of the Islamic Republic.
